Fear
by Schingiuire Vristalica
Summary: Capturing Dracula was the easy half, to study the beast, learn secrets of the vampire, that is the harder. Abraham finds himself alienated from his friends, and the only creature to understand him be the very beast to carve the wedge. Future AH x A
1. Chapter 1

**Part One**

Fear. This single emotion controlled many aspects of the world and its ways. Fear caused the rise of kingdoms. Fear ruled those kingdoms then tore them down when it saw fit. Even the mightiest beings felt fear. It was the choice and power of those beings that kept them from being controlled by it.

The insistent mumbling of the man disturbed his rest. A crimson eye cracked to observe Abraham's pacing back and forth across the stone room. Chains clinked dully as he sat up to better follow the human's movement. Dracula growled low under his throat as he scratched at the plated manacles around his wrists.

Abraham paid no attention to the waking vampire as he paced, more interested in the strange words writ in ink over the parchment in his hands. Dracula let his eyes fall to the white line drawn across the floor at a slight arch. The line of chalk and paint might as well have been a wall of stone or bars. It marked as far as he could reach in his chains.

His captor ended his pacing with a slightly louder, more excited mumble. Abraham, still not seeming to notice the vampire, stepped briskly to a ragged writing desk which rested near the door of the large cell. He seated himself at the desk, scribbling in one of his books for a moment then resuming his excited mumbling.

Dracula stood with the unnatural grace of his species, each movement he made accented with the click and rattle of his chains. Turning his back on the raving human, he wrapped his thin fingers around the chain holding his throat where it attached to the wall and pulled with his might. It had become something of a ritual for him. He would try each chain at the wall when he woke. The thick bands around his wrists and throat chafed the flesh there becoming an irritation over time. The chains he would never break, that he well knew. His captors and his jailer had well prepared to hold him for innumerable years. The chains had been spelled, each link etched with runes strengthening them far beyond his abilities. The same with the thick bands of metal locked to him. At first he had even tried to disrupt the spells by marring the runes with his own using his claws. The spells responded to his tampering with a jolt of electricity, punishing him for his efforts.

While the chains were beyond his ability to break, the stone it was attached to was another matter. Abraham had seemingly thought the same possibility as so far Dracula found his efforts in vain.

The vampire turned to observe his captor once again, narrowing his eyes when he found Abraham standing just beyond the white line watching him with mild amusement.

"You are still trying? I'm surprised you have not yet learned to not waste your energy on such a fruitless action. "

Dracula did not reply for a moment, intent on glaring his hatred at the human. Finally, his jaws parted to release a hiss and an answer.

"Humans and their constructions weaken with time. Vampires grow stronger."

Abraham chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "What holds you where you are is nothing human," he replied quietly.

Again Dracula did not reply, this time his attention straying from Abraham's face to the object in his hands. Abraham noticed the flinch of his eyes, the light of those twin red lanterns shifting.

"Ahh, yes," Abraham commented quietly, lifting the bowl with a faint smirk. "Human," he whispered in a tone almost taunting.

Dracula snarled at that, the thin lips covering his quickly elongating teeth peeling back in a knowing grimace.

"You only find it in you to serve me**,** human**,**when it is laced with your drug!" the vampire accused.

Abraham shrugged at the sharp words. There was no point in denying it, the creature was correct. He would serve Dracula pig and animal blood normally only bringing human blood when it was mixed with a concoction of chemicals he wished the vampire to drink. There was a knowing glint in his blue eyes. He did this because the vampire would not refuse human blood. Oh he would rant, threaten, and show the face of that legendary temper of his, but in the end he would give in to his body's demands and drink.

Abraham had found it useful, however, to starve Dracula a bit before he served his drug laced blood. It prompted him to threaten and fuss less if he was quite hungry.

Even now Dracula's glowing eyes flicked from the bowl to his jailer's face. Ivory teeth lengthened in his mouth, gleaming with saliva. The vampire's gaunt features suggested strongly to his starvation. Flesh tone of an almost corpse grey and bones pushing against the flesh giving him a clear skeletal appearance. Apart from his chains he wore nothing but a pair of ragged trousers.

Abraham was still amused with the way the vampire tried to make himself appear noble and high born. The nails on his fingers looked perfectly manicured and his graying hair fell between his shoulder blades in a silky wave and evenly cut. Abraham well knew those nails would sharpen and lengthen in a mere moment and the hair would gain something of a life of it's own.

"Hungry?" Abraham asked good-naturedly as he set the bowl just beyond the warning white line.

Dracula took several steps forward but stopped short when Abraham drew a lump of glinting metal from his coat. He aimed the gun carefully just to the right of the vampire's heart not wishing to injure him too badly.

"Back up," he ordered**,**the mocking kind tone now replaced by one of deep command. "You've been shot several times before; do you really want to heal yourself from a silver bullet again?"

A growl answered his inquiry but Dracula did not move. The deep red glow of his eyes brightened at the threat aimed at him and complicated equations and plans at once began to fill his mind. Each equation calculated movements he could make to dodge the liquid white fire he knew would come.

"Back up," Abraham repeated, thumb cocking the hammer of his pistol.

Dracula growled again, reluctantly forcing his legs to move as he took a short step back. Abraham seemed to relax but watched the vampire carefully for any movement. As he shifted his weight to one leg, intending to reach out with a toe to move the bowl into the vampire's reach, Dracula noted the muscle tensing and weight shift and made his move.

The vampire lunged forward, dropping to a knee as Abraham's gun discharged firing the bullet over his head and into the stone wall. Though he was starved Dracula's reflexes were honed to a predatory keenness that such as Abraham could not best him. The human barely had a chance to withdraw his leg. But even as the triumph registered on Abraham's face he realized his mistake.

Dracula dropped and kicked out. Half laying back his legs gaining extension over the line and hooked around the leg Abraham had shifted his weight to. In one expert movement, Dracula dropped Abraham to the ground. One leg in easy reach the vampire righted himself and dragged Abraham thrashing well into his zone of movement.

Pressing a hand between Abraham's shoulders to keep him pinned, Dracula roared his laughter, lowering his head to breathe against the man's throat.

"And so your chapter comes to an end, Professor," he cackled in amusement.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part Two**

Abraham grunted at the weight pushing at his back. He could feel the cold air against his throat and disturbing the hair behind his ear. Dracula's breath was enough to send him reeling, the overpowering scent of aged blood and decay. One hand was pinned under his chest, and Abraham frantically began moving it into his coat seeking anything that would get the monster off of him.

Feeling the thick leather of a belt across his chest, Abraham traced it with shaking fingers to the item it held, a large knife which he used for ceremonial purposes in his studies and experiments. It was not silver, but it would do. He could feel needles scratching against the flesh of his throat, knowing well that the vampire was taunting him, scraping his fangs over the sensitive skin to better smell his jailer's fear. Dracula would not gloat long before taking his catch and crush Abraham's throat in his jaws. He must be distracted which was easy considering the creature's personality.

Abraham began to slowly ease the knife from it's sheath, forming his plan as options presented themselves.

"What will you do after you kill me? My death will not free you from your restraints," Abraham commented though his voice tremored and it did not go unnoticed.

Dracula's mirth seemed to elevate as he leaned over his captive, pointed tongue sliding from between his fangs to press against Abraham's neck, just behind the jaw and below the ear, then slowly slide as if a slimed snake to probe over the his Adam's Apple. Abraham could see the vampire's jaws from the corner of his eyes even as Dracula leaned onto him and he was pressed into the floor. They were the twisted jaws of a beast, lined with too many sharp teeth. The jaws had extended, altering the very shape of Dracula's skull as they worked to accommodate the amount of sharpened ivory.

The vampire's tongue slid back into his mouth with a quick motion, another laugh barking from his throat. Abraham fancied he was wolf like. He certainly had the jaws of one. Abraham shuddered at the sound, licking his lips and trying again.

"You cannot free yourself. The key your restraints require is not physical but a word and only I know that word."

The voice that snarled beside his ear was not one the vampire normally used. This was deep and deadly and undertoned of chaos, blood, rot, and madness.

"I will get it from your blood! Blood is the life and the power. It is the knowledge! Blood does not lie!"

Abraham's ear began to ring from the vampire's declaration. There was no note of uncertainty there, but Abraham was quite sure he could plant a bit.

"Not this," he replied, voice still shaking. "This knowledge does not hide in the blood. You would kill me and be trapped here to be forgotten. My servants and allies would brick over the door and forget this room ever existed while you rot away into dust."

Dracula seemed to waver for a moment, unsure if he should believe this claim or not. Abraham could feel the ice shards sinking into his mind which was the vampire trying to read his thoughts, but quickly shut the doors and denied entry into his thoughts.

Abraham could see the maw of teeth beside his head mesh and flex as Dracula considered his statement, but the vampire opted for revenge first and foremost.

"Even if this word key is not known in your blood, I can pull it from your mind when you are dead and ghoul."

Abraham, gaining confidence, laughed brokenly at that. The vampire hissed his anger, pressing down harder upon the back of his captive.

"You would risk everything on your hopes that a dead thing will tell you it's living secrets? Are you such a fool as that, Count? I had thought you more cleaver."

Dracula tossed his head back to bark another laugh. Abraham momentarily lost sight of the cavern of teeth. It was all the better to him. Watching the vampire's maw continue to sprout teeth in a twisting, uneven mass was unnerving and now was not a time to lose his wits and panic. Panicking would give Dracula what he wanted and Abraham's life would end.

"You cannot win, Count" Abraham continued, hoping to distract the vampire more. "You can never win. Even if you kill me and claim that as your victory, my design will still keep you captive."

Dracula's jaws were close to his throat once more. Abraham could feel the cold breath of hell wash over his exposed jugular.

"You? Best me? HA! You think you have won because your spelled metal keeps me at bay? Here I had hoped _you_ to be cleverer, Professor. You lay under my claws now, your throat bared to me! It think it is no longer a war, for you have lost."

"You betray your childish way of thinking at every turn, Count. Just because I am dead does not end your enemy. I have allies, remember, Dracula, you were defeated by a group. I could not have taken you as easily as I did without aid."

Abraham clutched the knife tightly in his hidden hand, suppressing a shudder as the vampire emitted such a hiss of fury it stirred his hair to rise from the back of his neck.

"Your pitiful group is like an animal with you as the head of the body. If I remove the head, the rest will not function."

Abraham shook his head, licking his lips again to moisten them. His mouth had gone suddenly dry. There were footsteps in the hall, a pair was moving toward the room. Dracula heard them as well, perhaps long before he did. The vampire was tensing, one hand gripping Abraham's upper arm in a painful hold.

"Do you listen, Count? If you kill me you will be hopelessly trapped here. Killing the animal, as you said, will guarantee your internship here for centuries or more to come. Even if you do manage, though quite impossible, to free yourself, what will you do? Destroy England in your petty revenge? Will you make thousands, oldest and youngest, suffer for your mistakes and inadequacies?"

Dracula's roar drowned out the butler's knocking at the door. Abraham felt himself bodily lifted as Seward threw the door open, pistol in hand and pushing the terrified butler back into the hallway. Abraham clutched his knife against his side, hoping to hide it from the Count's notice in the folds of his coat's cloth. Dracula crushed Abraham's back into his chest, one arm locking in a hold around his throat and the other holding firmly to his upper arm. Though the vampire was several inches taller than Abraham, he knew Seward would not try a shot with so small a target and Abraham in danger.

"Hello, Jack," Abraham rasped out through the hold on his throat. "Don't shoot, just aim."

"Silence," Dracula hissed.

Seward held his pistol in both hands, steadying a shot at the vampire's skull.

"I had dropped by for a visit, Professor. I was hoping you would not lecture me for arriving unexpectedly. Now I believe it is my turn to lecture. We, myself specifically, told you to kill that monster."

Dracula growled darkly, Abraham could feel the vibration of the beast's chest against his back.

"Jack, now is not the time for anyone to lecture," Abraham replied through grit teeth, his voice hoarse as his air supply was closed off a bit more when Dracula tightened his hold.

"Give me the key," the vampire hissed through his cavern of teeth.

Seward tightened the grip on his pistol, knowingly keeping his eyes locked onto Abraham's. To meet eyes with the vampire could be disastrous.

"The only thing I will give you, monster, is a free ride to Hell's darkest pits," Seward answered darkly. His eyes questioned Abraham, but the other shook his head almost imperceptibly.

"I will take this slime with me," Dracula answered, his horrific jaws twisting into a grin. "I will take him slowly and you will watch."

Abraham felt his arm released and the fish hook claws of Dracula's fingers brushing against his cheek in a mockery of a loving gesture.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part Three**

Seward's grip shifted on his gun, eyes watching Abraham with a hard gaze of determination. Abraham twisted his head slowly away from Dracula's claws as they scraped against his face. Taking advantage of the shifting pressure on his throat, he gasped before the vampire tightened his arm and cut off most of his ability to breath once more.

"He does not know the key," Abraham rasped quietly. "I am the only one who does. The spells are my creations." Abraham felt his resolve cracking slightly, a tiny fissure in the walls around his mind forming as the vampire clawed and picked away at them to gain entrance to the knowledge he sought.

"Save yourself the pain," Dracula growled. "Tell me."

"No. If you kill me anyway you doom yourself to an existence as housing for worms and roaches. It is that simple, Count. Even your child mind can understand that." Abraham knew he was goading the vampire to do something rash. It was a bet on what that rash action would be, Abraham's own life forfeit.

A deep growl nearly deafened him in one ear. Abraham could almost feel the anger rushing through the thin frame behind him in response to his words. The hand gripping his wrist released it, instead grabbing a fist full of hair and twisting his head painfully to the side to bare his throat. Abraham winced as his scalp was numb for an instant then began to burn and ache as he could almost feel his hair being ripped from his head.

"Now Jack!" Abraham cried when the arm around his neck dropped to wrap around his chest, better giving the Count access to the artery.

Dracula realized his mistake too late as his forehead burst into a spray of blood, gore, and bone at the sharp retort of Seward's pistol. The aim had been perfect. Abraham felt the grip on his head and chest loosen as the vampire slumped over his shoulder. He tossed the semi conscious body to the side, brandishing his knife and slipping the blade between the links to dig it into the molding between stones, pinning a chain to the floor to give himself a bit more time. Even now, only moments after the shot, Dracula was beginning to move, the wound healing much too fast.

"Damn it, Jack! You should keep silver bullets on you," Abraham growled, his voice harsh and rasping.

Abraham rolled to his feet, sprinting the short distance from the back wall to the white line. Chains rattled behind him as the vampire was moving, and a sharp word in an unknown language he could only guess as a curse told him the simple measure of the knife had bought him his precious second.

Leaping over the line and moving several feet away to collapse on the ground, Abraham finally let fear wash over him. Dracula's cursing and fury exploded in frenzy as he realized his enemy had been in his clutches and escaped yet again. Kneeling, Abraham turned to look over his shoulder, trying to control his trembling as he watched the vampire wrench himself against his restraints, roaring his injustice in several unknown tongues.

Seward had moved to crouch beside Abraham, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright? Did he bite you? Draw blood? Professor? Are you okay? Please look at me, Abraham." Seward shook his shoulder and Abraham reached up and caught his wrist, shaking his head.

"I'm fine, just shaken. I made a mistake and thank the Lord my life was spared in the face of my stupidity."

Seward pulled the collar of Abraham's coat back, narrowing his eyes at the bruising he found there.

"Damn monster," he growled under his breath, his eyes moving to settle on the raging vampire. Almost as if instinctive, they drifted to fall upon Abraham's pistol. Growling, Seward stood and moved to retrieve it, pulling the hammer back and pointing it at the vampire.

"Foul, loathsome creature . Abraham should have put an end to you long ago! Not keep you for some forsaken studies."

Dracula had calmed knowing very well Abraham's pistol was loaded with silver. He backed into the shadowed areas of his space, growling darkly. Abraham stood on shaking legs, staggering to Seward.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his voice clearing but now a bit of consternation in his tone.

"Killing him. If he lives, punishing him," Seward answered, not looking at the man beside him, having only eyes for the vampire. More specifically, his chest, where the heart lay. A bullet there, another in the brain, and if it's still moving, double his efforts with whatever is left in the revolver.

"NO!" Abraham cried, his hand flashing out to grab Seward's wrist just as the shot discharged. The jarring sent the bullet far over the vampire's head, but Dracula dropped to the ground in a crouch, his growl quieting as he tried to hide himself in what little shadow existed flickering from the torchlight.

Abraham wrenched the pistol from Seward's hands, slipping it into its holster under his coat as if afraid Jack would go for it again. Seward stared at him with wide eyed disbelief, his mouth slightly agape.

"The thing tried to _kill _you! It will do so again if given the chance! Why keep him here? What use is he now? What use was he _ever_? Abraham," he grabbed the other's shoulders, demanding full attention. "Dracula is a danger. Has he spelled you? Put you in his thrall? Is that why you protect him?"

Abraham cast Seward a glare, shaking him off as he finally began to recover from his earlier shock.

"No, Dracula could never get into my mind. There are still things I seek to do. Things I've started that need finishing, Jack. I'm on the verge of something perfect!"

Dracula remained at a crouch, baring his fangs as he stroked the shining blade of the knife Abraham had used to catch his chains. Now is the time! While they are distracted! His snarling grimace twisted into a grin as his grip tightened on the blade. But which one? Only one could be struck. Abraham, the man he so hated, or Seward, who nearly shot him with loathed silver.

The vampire made his decision quickly. Abraham held too much worth at the moment. His claims of being the only one to know this word key weighing too heavily on his mind. Raising his arm and flicking his wrist, Dracula let the knife fly. His target had been Jack's throat, but the main raised his arm to gesture, the knife catching between the bones below the elbow.

Even with the miss, Dracula purred to the music of Seward's cries. Jack fell against Abraham, clutching his arm as the other pulled the blade from his arm. Cursing, Seward used the moment of closeness to reach into Abraham's coat and draw the silver loaded pistol again. Turning and dripping blood over the floor, he discharged a shot in the vampire's direction before Abraham could take the gun from him.

Such a wild shot missed, though the vampire snarled at the attempt when stone exploded near his skull. Abraham tore the pistol from Seward's bloody hand, tossing it toward the writing desk by the door, well out of reach of both men.

"Shoot him!" Seward snarled, gripping his arm as Abraham attempted to tear a shred of cloth and wrap it around his friend's arm.

"To what end?" Abraham replied. "It is his nature. No amount of pain can change that. You threatened him and he retaliated. Please. You need stitches, Jack. We both need a strong glass of brandy."

Dracula remained against the wall, now shifting his position to sit and lean against the stone as the men left. His eyes fixed upon the droplet trail of blood left by Seward, his nostrils flaring as the scent filled the room and tormented him. Sadly, Abraham's previous 'gift' from the bowl was now spilled across the stones, already sinking into the molding. The smell would torment him for days. For now he only sighed, pulling a leg up to drape his arm over his knee.

"Stupid man," he growled under his breath as he reflected upon Abraham's actions.


	4. Chapter 4

**Part One**

Abraham leaned back in his chair, his ice blue eyes watching the flames lick and snake about the logs in the fireplace. Holmwood was pacing the floor in front of him, and Seward had not said much of anything for several nights, not after the ordeal in the lowers with Dracula.

"I cannot believe you _still_ have that beast!" Arthur ranted once again. The man had been at it since he had arrived per Seward's letter of invitation.

Abraham only sighed, unsure of how to really handle this situation. Those years ago when they had cornered Dracula, staked him and they readied to remove the vampire's head, Abraham had been contemplating a thought of capture instead of death for the monster. Dracula was the superior example of his species, the perfect beast to observe to learn about the vampires. Not only that, he could study the monster itself, learn what occult secrets lay buried in the vampire's flesh. The secret of regenerative flesh and bone was one he had a particular interest in.

It had taken some persuading, but he had convinced his fellows to capture Dracula instead of their ideal sentence of death. Dracula was none too happy about finding out his situation once they had arrived back to England with their cargo. Having Dracula alive was a wedge among his friends and himself. They did not see the potential of it, only the ill fortune if the beast were to escape, which it would not.

"You agreed this was the better course of action when I gave you my reasoning four years ago, Arthur," Abraham replied quietly. "I do not plan to leave him down there for very much longer in any case."

"So you plan to stuff him in a bottle like some kind of genie then?" Godalming snapped, rounding on Abraham with a fierce look in his eyes. "That beast killed Lucy. Not only did he kill her, he turned her into a demon and she killed children and tried to kill me! Dracula has already shown he can get to you! Why do you insist upon keeping him like some pet?"

Abraham tried to take his friend's anger in stride. He could see from their perspectives just how they felt, so he could not be angry at either of them. Lord help him if they told Jonathon or Mina. Those two had settled in for a happy life together, they even had twin sons. It almost brought a smile to his face as he thought of his own son, Samuel, who was currently upstairs sleeping safely.

Samuel had not even heard about the incident, and he hoped to keep it that way. He was getting enough grief from this pair. Samuel would surely have a word or two with him if he found out.

"I'm not keeping him as a pet, Arthur, you know this." Abraham stood, running his fingers through his hair, as his temper started to flare up slightly. "He is the most pure of his species. Vampirism is a virus, not just a beast. While we think of vampires as being monsters, beasts, they are in fact viruses. Think about it, a virus is neither dead nor alive, as the vampires are. They need the blood of a host to survive, and also plant part of themselves into the host to breed a new vampire. What if I could find a way to counteract that virus, so that it could not infect a human host? Imagine just getting a shot, then no matter how many times a vampire fed from you, you would never change because your body would know how to battle the virus."

Seward looked up, a quizzical expression over his face. "My word," he whispered quietly.

Abraham nodded. "Vampires would cease to breed, would no longer multiply. From this way we could curtail their numbers then, slowly, remove them from existence all together."

Godalming was quiet after the outburst, turning his back on Abraham to move toward his own chair, sinking slowly into it with a soft creak of leather.

"I'm listening," he commented quietly, folding his arms over his chest and looking up at Abraham with a narrowed expression. "How do you propose to keep control of him? He only gets stronger as he gets older. What if a time comes when even you can't kill him anymore? And what if he gets out of that room? Every time anyone walks into that place they are at a certain risk. The blood of one of your staff will be upon your hands if Dracula kills anyone."

Abraham allowed himself to smile slightly as he turned, moving to his desk to rummage over some papers. "I have been tackling those very problems for some time now," he replied, finding his documents and moving back to the pair. "Through knowledge gained from my father's occult books, and some I have procured on my own, I've been working on something of a spell and a ward. As we all know, there are certain wards that keep vampires out, even faith can do that. But I was seeking something that would keep a vampire's power locked _in_." He paused a moment, his eyes moving between Godalming and Seward to search their eyes for understanding, however finding none.

"Was that not the purpose of the room he's chained like a rabid dog in now?" Godalming questioned, raising an eyebrow as he leaned forward to accept the small stack of pages Abraham offered. "Gods," he whispered, looking over the arcane scribbling and the complex ward taking up the entirety of the final page. He did not understand the symbols, but the mere look of the pentagramic star set his hair on end.

"That's not entirely what I mean," Abraham chuckled, feeling a bit smug at Holmwood's reaction. He watched as Seward took the pages, flipping through them with his own narrowed expression. "If I can lock his power inside of him, where he cannot use it, he will not be a threat even if he escapes."

Abraham paused, watching the two men until Seward spoke up in a hushed tone. "Do you even know what you are doing? You could very well give him more power with this thing. It does not appear to be of any pure intent."

"That ward will keep his power locked in," Abraham replied with a tenseness leaking into his voice. "It is not made from pure forces. Something like that would harm him in a way I do not wish to. Like tattooing a cross on his flesh. What better way to lock his power out of his control than using something similar to his power. His body will not resist a familiar force."

Holmwood leaned forward, steepling his fingers as he listened to them. It was then he chose to raise his own argument. "You say that this ward will keep him from using his black magic. How will it keep him from ripping humans apart like old rags? Will it take his strength and cunning away as well? Will it make him weak as a human and foolish? I am afraid of his power, but what truly frightens me is his mind and his strength."

Abraham was quiet, his eyes dancing between his two fellows. He sighed, turning and sliding down into his chair. "I am actually not sure if it will limit his strength," he replied quietly. "Though simply controlling his intake of blood will allow us to monitor that. As he is now," Abraham looked up to Seward then. "He could not do much more damage than an above average human."

They were all quiet for the time, Godalming leaning back in his chair, eyes watching the fire flicker an eerie light over the room. "What will you tell Jonathon and Mina? They above all wanted you to end that monster's life. Now you plan to practically make him human."

A small smile came to Abraham's lips. For he knew that one of that pair had wanted Dracula dead, but the other whispered a plea to keep the monster as comfortable as could be allowed. Though Mina never spoke of it, and she and Jonathon put the past behind them and moved forward with their two sons, the few times he visited them, he recalled Mina's questioning look, asking something she would not voice aloud. And he would only reply with a subtle nod, the exchange forever unnoticed between their fellows.

Abraham did not respond to Godalming's question, instead he lifted his head slightly, looking into the eyes of him and Seward. "I will need your aid to put this ward on him," Abraham stated with a tone that suggested the conversation, and argument, were over and he would not change his mind.

Seward sighed, lifting a hand to his face and rubbing a thumb and forefinger over his brow. "If you truly insist upon this madness, I will be at your side, Abraham. I thought you were crazy going after that beast, though I knew it was necessary. And I think you are mad now. But if you believe this is the better course of action, I will help you."

He was met with a look of appreciation from Abraham, who then turned his gaze to Arthur, brows knitted together in a questioning expression. Holmwood turned his face away from Abraham, gritting his teeth as he thought over the situation. "If you refuse to kill the damned thing as we all advise you, we had best help you with this madness. I think you are a fool for leaving Dracula alive. We all do. But you have proved yourself to us on many occasions. Seward may support you though anything, but I owe you a debt for Lucy. I will help you," he finally sighed, leaning forward to rest his clenched hands against his mouth. "Promise me, Abraham."

Abraham frowned, standing to walk to the wood pile near the fire and take a small log, tossing it into the flame. "What is it, Arthur?" he asked quietly.

"If this does not work, you will end that creature for good. You do whatever it takes, but you kill that thing."

Abraham was quiet for a moment, his back turned to his fellows, then slowly, he turned on his heel, a smirk over his features. "You have no worries. Dracula is in our grasp. He can no more escape now than he could as we tracked him across his own terrain. Stand with me my friends. We will put this beast down one way or another."

**Part Two**

Hunger wrenched his jaws, drawing a strangled hiss from his throat. Dracula picked himself up from the floor, arms wrapped around his middle as a strangled wheeze accompanied his body's tremors and spasms. He felt wretched, starved to the point where he would curl up in a corner and go mad with hunger, unable to move, forever trapped in a husk. There were footsteps coming. Dracula tilted his head, listening and counting. Three men. He could easily tell Abraham's but the others he was not sure. Grunting, he slammed his back into the far wall, ignoring the violent rattle of chains that followed his movements.

The pounding of heartbeats and blood rushing through living bodies threatened to send him over the edge of madness. His jaws ached, fangs lengthening to cut into the gristle of his gums. The door opened, Dracula kept his back against the wall, stooping over as he tightened his arms around his middle. The scent of living blood hit him hard, but he refused to debase himself before Abraham.

His eyes narrowed as they fell upon the other two humans, a silent growl vibrating his chest as anger threatened to dominate his actions.

"Good evening, Count," Abraham's voice rang out. He approached, a lantern held carefully in his fingers. He paused just before he reached the white line, smiling at the shadow where he could only see a faint outline of a pitiful shape.

Abraham waited for a reply, but when it became evident he would not get one, he turned to Holmwood and Seward. "The bottle please," he held out his free hand, and took something akin to a wine bottle from Seward. He approached the line once more, this time crouching to rest on a knee.

"Count, you have not feed in nearly two months, perhaps more. You have refused blood for some time and I've lost track of when you last drank." He rested an elbow on his thigh as he held the bottle up, looking in the general direction of where he assumed the vampire to be. "This is human, and not just any human. It's mine. If you drink this, things will go smoother for all of us. If not, well, I have other ways to subdue you."

"Drugged," Dracula's voice rumbled, a raspy, dead sound, like sandpaper scraping over raw bones.

"It is," Abraham confirmed, smirking. "But are you in any state to resist us as you are? One shot and you're down, in pain, and I'll drug you anyway." Abraham slipped a hand into his coat, withdrawing a large needle filled with a metallic white liquid. He held it easily in two fingers, the blood in one hand, needle in the other as he offered the vampire a choice. "Then you may dry up, and in what way will you be able to resist us then? As helpless as a newborn kitten."

A furious growl answered him, followed by a scuffle of movement, as always, accented by a clink of chains. Dracula stepped into the collective light of all their lanterns, his frail shape hardly more than a skeleton. Abraham felt a stab of pity for the monster, but quickly smothered it as he reminded himself that Dracula was just that, a monster. Untold thousands had fallen into the pits at his command. This was no human or living being they were dealing this. This beast was a literal demon, allied with Satan himself. It mattered not how withered the outer form appeared. What needed to be controlled was the wicked being within.

"And what do you plan to do this time, Professor?" Dracula snapped, a maw of teeth flashing with each word. Abraham clenched his jaws, feeling as if he were being stared down by a snarling wolf. And a starved one at that. "Some new torture you have concocted for me? I eagerly await our time in Hell together," the vampire hissed, stepping forward and leaning against his chains to snatch the bottle from Abraham's hand.

Abraham was a bit surprised. He had half expected the vampire to attack him in any way it could. He had even gone so far as to give Arthur a pistol loaded with the special silver shots in case anything unexpected happened again. But Dracula's compliance, no matter how reluctant, was a welcome relief.

He could almost feel the ease of tension behind him. Not very much, but enough to make him stand and back up a few steps as Dracula, scowling at the three of them, retreated into his own darkness. Abraham stiffened as he turned to smile slightly to Arthur, the feathery touches and creeping ice through his skull signaled Dracula's presence there. He quickly slammed the doors on his mind, but he was worried about his allies.

"Arthur, if you could please recite the Lord's Prayer for us as we wait," he coaxed, hoping to distract them both.

Godalming looked at him in mild surprise, but then nodded, feeling it was more than appropriate for the moment, and their current company. Both he and Seward bowed their heads.

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name," he began in a loud, clear voice.

Abraham relaxed slightly, his head bowed just enough to join with the prayer, but his eyes constantly watching the darkness where Dracula had hidden himself. This was going to be tricky. But if the end result was what he expected, a neutralized threat without killing Dracula, he could handle what came after and he could handle this situation to the best of his abilities. To have Dracula subdued, to the point where he was hardly more a threat than an above average human meant his research would run all the smoother. And his allies would sleep easier as well.


End file.
